Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-03-04


! removed, though the mountains be cas-
into the midst Of the sea-. though the
waters thereof roar and be troubled
though the mountains shake with the
swelling thereof. Selah''
/ But my text suggests something in ad-
vance Of any thing have said. We must
all quit this life. However sound our
health may be, it must break down; how
ever good our title be to houses, land and
estates, we must surrender them. We
will hear voice bidding US away from sll
these places. We will have to stert on @
pilgrimage from which w. can never
come back. We viii have seen for the
last time the evening star, and
watched the last summer cloud,
! and felt the breath of the
spring VIM for the last time. Hands OF
lovsfsnes may be stre'cheagaEyto hold
us bssk, but they canuoftyso We must.
tA6yat all otEer exits Did changes we
NAY trifief 5fr not abO1gf this Seupend-
! ogs monenstot lite-qsTting. GA, whsn
the great tlGes Of eternity arise about us,
ard fill the$ soul and Surround IL, and
sweep it out to wards rabiure % wos, n,
thst will be "shc swelling ,df.J6rdan ~
| know people sometimes talk very
merri!y about the departure from this
life. | am sorry to hear it. But mea do
make fun of the passage from one WOrl1
IN another. Byron jokeG 4 great deal
about it, but when it came he snipe.ed
with horror. Many an iHtidal has sccfffd
at TIE idea Of iearing g future world, but
iying upon his pillow in the last hour his
teeth have chartered with terror. / saw,
in Westminster Abbey, an epitaph which
4 poet ordered to be put upon his tomb ::
Life Is q Jest,
nd things show It.
thought 50 Cc,
But now know It.
thought how lnapt that, in place of
sepulcher, men should try their With
cisms. great German, having rejected
Christ, in his last moment said: Give
me light, give me light" GA, we may
be smart with our witticism about the
last hour; but when it comes, and the
tides are rising, and the surf is beating,
and the winds are bowling, we will each
one, my brethren, find for himself, that it
is "the swelling Of Jordan" Our nat
ursl courage won't hold out then. How
ever familiar we msy have been with
scenes Of mortality, however much we
msy have screwed our courage up, we
want something more than natural re-
sources. When the northeast wind
blows off from the sea
of death, it will put out oil earthly lights.
The lamp of the Gospel, God-lighted, is
the only lamp that can sand in that blsst
The weakest arm holding that shall not
be confounded; the strongest one reject
ing that shall stumble and die. When
the Jordan rises in its wrath. the first
dash of its wave will swamp
them forever We feel how sad it is for
man to attempt this life without relig-
ion. We see what doleful thing it is
for man 10 90 down into the misfor-
tunes of life without Christian solace;
but if that be so, how much more ter
rible when that man comes face to face
with the Solemnities Of the last hour,
On, if in the bright sunshine OF health
and prosperity man felt the need of
something better, how will he feel when
the shadows of the last hour gather above
his pillow? If in the warmth
of worldly prosperity he was sometimes
Gsmsyed, how will he feel when the last
chill creeps over him? II while things
were comparatively smooth he wss dis
quieted, what will he do in the agonies Of
dissolution? "If, in the land of peace in
which he trusted, they wearied him,
what will he do amid the swelling of
JOrdani"
On, rejoice to know that SO many Of
Gods children have gone through that
pass without shudder, me one said
TO dying Christian: "Isn't it hard for
you to get out OF this world!" ooh, no."
he says, sit is easy dying, it is blessed
dying, it is glorious dying" anG then he
pointed to clock on the wall. and said:
The last two hours in which l have
been dying, have had more Joy than all
the years of my life" A general came
into the hospital after the battle, and
there were many seriously wounded, and
there was one man dying, and the general
said: "Ah, my dear fellow, you seem very
much wounded. l am afraid you are not
going to get Well" "NO," said the sol
der, 81 am not going to get well, but
feel very happy" On, have seen them,
and SO have you, go out of this life with
out tear on their cheek, There was
weeping all round the room, but no
weeping in the bed; the cheeks were dry.
They were not thrown down into dark
ness; they were lifted up. We saw the
tides rising around them, ard the swell
ing of the wave. It washed them of from
cares and tolls of life; it washed them on
towards the be2cn Of heaven They
waved to Us farewell kiss as they stood
on deck, and foated down further and
further. waited by gales from heaven, un-
til they were lost to our sigh-mortality
having become immortality.
Ii e'- duty done, rs 81 Ks the clay.
Light from its load the -p'r les;
h Ia }, ., tn
How O!est the righteous when he dies,
What high consolation to you that
your departed friends were not submerged
in the swelling of Jordan. The Israel |
ties Were Just as thoroughly alive IL the
western banks CT the Jordan as they had |,
been en- the eastern banks Of
the Jordan, and our > departed /
Christian friends have only crossed /
over-nOt sick, not dead, not exhausted, /
not eXtiDguished, not slotted out, but |
with healthier respiration and stouter |
pulses, and keener eYesight, and better
prospects, crossed over, their sins, their |
physical and mental disquiet all left clear !
TINS side, tan eternslly FLOWING, impas-
sable obstacle between them and all hu-
man and satanic pursuit. Crossed over!
On, shake bands of congratulation with !
Ill the beresved in the consideration that |
our departed Christian friends are safe! |
Why was there years ago so much Joy !